The 2013 North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (NCR-SARE) Research and Education Grant Program Call for Pre-proposals is now available online at http://www.northcentralsare.org/Grants/Our-Grant-Programs/Research-and-Education. Gary Lesoing, our Nebraska SARE contact person may also be able to answer some questions about this grant program.
NCR-SARE’s Research and Education (R&E) program supports sustainable agriculture innovators with competitive research and education grants. Individual grants range from $10,000 to $200,000. NCR-SARE expects to fund about 8-12 projects in the twelve-state North Central Region.
The deadline for Research and Education Program pre-proposals is 4:30pm CST November 9, 2012.
NCR-SARE has implemented a new, shorter timeline for its R&E Grant Program this year. The decision to reduce the interval between preproposal submissions to project awards from 15 to 9 months was made in response to survey comments from potential grant applicants.
The new timeline for the R&E grants will be:
Call for Pre-proposals: August
Pre-proposals due: November 9, 2012
Call for Proposals: late February
Proposals due: late April
Funding notification: early August
Funds available: fall
NCR-SARE administers each of its grant programs with specific priorities, audiences, and timelines. The focus for each of the NCR-SARE grant programs is on research and education. Funding considerations are made based on how well the applicant articulates the nature of the research and education components of their sustainable agriculture grant proposals.
NCR-SARE’s Administrative Council (AC) members decide which projects will receive SARE funds. A collection of farm and non-farm citizens, the AC includes a diverse mix of agricultural stakeholders in the region. Council members hail from regional farms and ranches, the Cooperative Extension Service, universities, and nonprofit organizations. In addition, regional representatives of the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and NCR agribusinesses, state agencies, and foundations sit at the table to distribute grant money.
For questions or additional information regarding the R&E Grant Program, contact Beth Nelson at schre002@umn.edu.